Monday, May 19, 2014

(Pardon the bad pictures--I finished these at 11:30 at night. They then boarded a plane the next morning.)

While we were at Disneyland, we visited with family who lives nearby. My kids were showing their cousins the animal pillows I had sewn for them. My nieces strongly hinted they would like one--so much so that they each told me exactly what they would like. I couldn't leave their little brother out, so he got something, too.Their dad graduated from Med School this past weekend, and R went out to Southern California to be there for his big day. These pillows stowed away in his suitcase. To save space on the trip over and to save space on their family's big move to Texas, these pillows were sent without the pillow form.I did take these pictures before I sewed on their backs.

(Purple Elephant, Gray Owl, Blue Hippopotamus)

I had to know what they looked like all stuffed and fluffed, so I stole the pillow forms out of my own kid's pillows and stuffed these new ones. (Yes, I snuck into my kids rooms at 11:30 at night and pulled the pillows out from under their heads. Best mom ever, I know.)Again--bad lighting, but better than nothing.

Purple Elephant

Gray Owl

Blue Hippopotamus

I sewed hidden zippers on the back. This way the pillow form can be added later after they make their big move. AND so that when the pillows get dirty, the covers can be removed and thrown in the wash.

The zipper was the thing that scared me the most. I had done them on my boys' pillows, but I had my mom sitting right next to me the whole time. This time, I did it all by my lonesome. Once I got started, it went so fast. I followed the tutorial by House on Hill Road here.

This picture just makes me laugh.

Lady K's Purple Elephant with MK's much loved Gray Elephant.

I put MK's elephant next to the new one--it looks so shabby! The legs of the gray elephant were once as fluffy as the purple. All I can say is it has been loved.

The original pattern for these pillows can be found here. I designed the owl myself based off this pattern.

I had planned on pebbling in the negative space, but once I did all the stitch in the ditch I just really liked it. I might go back and do pebbling later one day--but for now I'm considering it done. Once I have my new sewing room, this is going up on my wall. I just love looking at it.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Congratulations to my mom who won an Honorary Mention in Machine Embroidery category at HMQS.

MK and Mom in front of her quilt hanging at the HMQS show.

Mom's Quilt at HMQS

(notice MK's gloves. She loved looking at the backs of all the quilts.)

MK and I met up with my mom for a quilt-fun-filled day. We browsed all the vendors and looked at all the amazing quilts. I got home and realized I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I had. We were a bit pressed for time--I couldn't get there early in the day, so I only had about 2-1/2 hours to take it all in. Not enough time!

I do want to share a few of my favorites (besides my mom's of course.)

I love the color on this quilt!

HMQS

This tribute to Monty Python made me laugh.

While admiring it, I heard a woman behind me say "I'm not dead yet."

I responded with "It's just a flesh wound." We both started cracking up.

Even though it was a short visit this year, I had a great time. I loved to see all the quilts. I'm always amazed at how far these quilts travel. There were quilts from all over the United States as well as Canada and Europe!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

I'm so lucky to have a great mom. I feel so blessed that we live close enough to see each other often. We can share our Quilting Passion together, and she is always teaching me so much. She has sucked me into the local quilting guilds, but I love it.

Last Sunday, I got a surprise. My kids made me breakfast and yelled "Happy Mother's Day!" I almost didn't want to tell them it was a week early. They made me oatmeal, a bowl of fruit, and toast--one with jam, the other with my favorite garlic butter. Yum. What a combination. =)

This Mother's Day weekend, MK and I spent Saturday at HMQS with my mom while R and the boys did all the Saturday chores! Sweet! They also gave me flowers and a beautiful new necklace. I love tulips!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

I have been splitting my time between house projects and quilty projects. I have finally started to quilt my Honey Honey quilt. (About time, I know!) My goal is to have all the quilting done by my Guild Meeting on Saturday. I need to have a finish done as part of our UFO Challenge. I can't believe I'm already going to use my one swap, but this is the closest to finished project I have, so it will do.

The guild set up a UFO Challenge to help us finish out unfinished projects. We had to list 4 projects we wanted to complete this year. We only had to complete 3 of the 4. AND we were allowed one swap out. And I'm using my swap out already as I didn't list Honey Honey on my challenge signup.

Honey Honey Quilt

But I have a very good reason for not having other projects further along. I've been working on finishing part of our basement. Last spring while my hubby was away on business, I cleaned out the basement and framed it up. He didn't want to worry about finishing a room...but I wanted more space so I took matter into my own hands. Once I surprised him with a start, he said it looked great but still didn't want to do any more. I finally convinced him we needed it completed. So, these past weeks I've spent hours and hours cleaning out more junk and installing the insulation.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

A week or so ago, we went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. This was my first time attending even though I've wanted to go for years. According to their website, there are 250,000 tulips displayed in 55-acres of gardens. That's a lot of tulips. Since tulips are my favorite flower, I was in heaven.

S, MK, and C squinting in the bright sun

S, MK, C at Tulip Festival

MK among the tulips

Tulip Festival

One garden area had all sorts of lawn games and activities.

We found a large chess board. Of course, S and C had to have a game.

Outdoor Chess Set

S, C, and MK as tulips.

MK said it was just like 'Alice in Wonderland.'

Tulip Festival

MK taking a rest in the butterfly garden

Tulip Festival

One of my goals this year is to make a unique quilt. I'm taking part in my guild's challenge this year to make a quilt titled "I looked out the window." It can be anything we see out our window--kitchen window, living room window, work window, car window, etc. I have been toying around with the idea of making a flower garden--3D flower garden.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

With the warmer weather comes a busier schedule. Each night is filled with some activity or another like baseball practice, soccer games, dance recitals, cub scouts, church activities, and me acting as chauffeur. I have started to invest in audio books--it makes drive time and wait-in-the-car time more pleasant. But it still doesn't let me spend more time at my sewing machine.

I need to make time for sewing and quilting this month. So, I'm setting some goals of things I want to accomplish this month. I find when I set specific goals I actually get things done.

ANIMAL PILLOWS FOR NIECES

While we were at Disneyland, we visited with family who lives nearby. My kids were showing their cousins the animal pillows I had sewn for them. My nieces strongly hinted they would like one--so much so that they each told me exactly what they would like. Their dad is graduating from Med School in a couple of weeks, and I want the pillows ready to for the trip to CA.

I made a gray elephant for MK, the zebra for C, and the purple hippo for S.

QUILT "HONEY HONEY"

This is all basted and ready to go, yet it sits on my machine. I keep moving it off my machine to work on other things. Isn't that silly?

Honey Honey Quilt

PREP AND BASTE "WHEEL OF FORTUNE"

I have steadily been pulling all the paper out of this quilt top. My kids have been HUGE helps in that regard. They see it as great fun--and who am I to disappoint their fun?

This month, I want to remove all the paper (it was paper pieced), press it, and baste it. I don't have to have it quilted by month's end--just READY to quilt.